Hackathon

What problem can you solve with your coding skills? What about that app you always wanted to develop? We are kick-starting the womENcourage 2018 conference with a one-day-long hackathon, where you can use your coding skills to bring your ideas to life.

We are now seeking project proposals related to design and development (e.g. a mobile app, website or a hardware prototype) in areas of your interest or social problems (e.g.  poverty, democracy, ecology) that you wish to solve using latest technologies (e.g. Blockchain, IoT, machine learning).

Project proposals are now closed.

Please sign-up for a project using this form.

If you would like to participate as a mentor or become a sponsor for the hackathon, or have any project proposal related questions, please feel free to contact acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org.

 

Supporters for the Hackathon

During the event, participants will be supported by mentors from Belgrade Institute of Technology.

We invite industrial partners and open source organizations to participate and support us in the event in the following ways:

    1. Sponsors – You can provide swag for all participants (e.g. stickers) and prizes for the winners. Sponsors will be advertised on the womencourage website and all marketing materials. Sponsors will also be eligible to receive contact information of all participants who have agreed for their details to be shared.
    2. Project Leaders – During the event, industry and community representatives can lead participant teams working on pre-defined projects. The project details can be defined by the project leader. It can either be a contribution to a well-established open-source initiative or a new project from scratch. You can decide a problem for the teams and  help them design and code the solution. The participants can select projects at the time of conference registration.
    3. Technical Mentors – You can provide programming support to the participants and solve their coding related problems faced during the project execution.

We look forward to you support and help us in this endeavour by dropping an email at  acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org by the 10th of August 2018.

Hackathon FAQs

General

What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is best described as an “invention marathon”. Anyone who has an interest in technology attends a hackathon to learn, build and share their creations in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. You don’t have to be a programmer and you certainly don’t have to be majoring in Computer Science.

Does the hackathon run overnight?

No. There are many weekend-long or 24-hour-long hackathons, but ours is 8-hour-long. We start at 9:00am and continue working on the projects until 17:00pm. After that, we will host project presentations, where you can demonstrate your work to the judges. The prizes will be awarded at the womENcourage conference Welcome Reception, which starts at 18:00pm. You can find the full schedule here.

I don’t have a team, can I still participate?

Yes! A lot of people go to hackathons without teams. For this reason, we do not expect you to have a team – in fact, at the end of August we will email every registered participant and ask to individually select the project they want to work on – which will enable us to define the teams.

Wanna propose your own project idea? No problem! Make sure that you fill the form provided on this page before the deadline.

I’m not a student anymore, can I still participate?

Yes! The hackathon is open to all womENcourage participants.

Is the hackathon for women only?

No! The hackathon is open to all womENcourage participants, both male and female.

Will lunch be provided during the event?

Yes. There will be lunch provided in the room between 12:00-14:00.  If you’ve got specific dietary requirements, you should let the event organizers know during the registration, and they’ll be more than happy to make arrangements.

What if I don’t want to present my project?

You might think your project isn’t impressive or it might not be finished, so you don’t want to present it. You should present it anyway! Honestly, a hackathon isn’t about being the best or being competitive. It’s all about having fun, making friends and learning how to become better at things you care about. Presenting your hack gives you a chance to be proud of what you’ve done, and you should be proud.

What if I don’t know how to code?

Not a problem! It’s absolutely okay if you don’t have prior technology experience or programming prerequisites before going to a hackathon, it’s more about your interest in making a jumpstart in technology. If you want to learn how to code before the hackathon, there’s a fantastic blog post that you should read. Afterwards, you should check out the following: Treehouse, Codecademy and the Major League Hacking blog to get you started.

During the event, there will be volunteers from Belgrade Institute of Technology to provide programming support and help build your project.

Projects

What if I don’t have an idea of a project?

You can propose your own project, but you don’t have to. At the end of August we will email every registered participant and ask to individually select the project they want to work on, from the list of submitted project proposals.

What is the team size?

The default team size will depend on the number of accepted projects and number of participants; however, if you include your preferred team size in your proposal, we will take it into account when we ask everyone to select projects.

If I propose a project, do I have to come to the event?

Yes. If your proposal gets accepted, you will receive an email from us asking you to confirm that you will participate.

When are the project proposals due?

The deadline to submit your idea has been extended to the 10th of August 2018. Please submit your proposal by then to make sure that we can share it with other participants before the event!

Any other questions?

Questions, queries or requests for support should be e-mailed to acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org.